Ramadan cannonade

The month of fasting, rumour-mongering, the riches of the stars and the woes of parents and journalists preoccupied the print media, write Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed

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The Muslim holy month of Ramadan heralds a season of ambiguity -- austere fasting during the day and feasting after dark. Ramadan is supposed to be a month of celebrating spirituality. Instead, it has metamorphosed into an excuse for further divisions and recriminations among the Muslim Umma, or nation. Many pundits lamented the sorry turn of events. Abdel-Moati Ahmed for one, writing in the daily Al-Ahram about sighting the crescent of Ramadan to see when the fasting should start, regreted the fuss over an event that ought to unite all Muslims around the world. Ahmed expressed the despair of many Muslims who cannot bear the thought that the onset of Ramadan ushers in a period of dispute, bad-mouthing and recriminations. "Sighting the crescent of the holy month of Ramadan is a controversial issue that erupts every year and divides Arabs and Muslims. Arab countries have never agreed on one united beginning for the holy month." But what matters most, Ahmed insisted, was the spiritual uplift that Ramadan is meant to convey. He stressed that it is a month of spiritual regeneration, not senseless bickering, and pointed out that different Muslim countries designate the first day of Ramadan at different dates. Confusingly, some Muslims will be fasting while others will be feasting. The fracas reflects the sorry state of the Muslim world. "Some [countries] want to disagree only for the sake of disagreement... to the extent that the difference concerning the beginning of the Hijra year was as much as three days [at times]."

Another divisive theme was the issuing of fatwas, or religious edicts, concerning what to do and what not to do during Ramadan. The daily liberal Nahdet Masr ran this feature: "Breaking the fast by eating at the Mawaaid Al-Rahman [mercy banquets] of ministers and belly-dancers is prohibited." The paper quoted one sheikh as saying that being tempted to break the fast at the banquets of such "sinful people" is a wicked deed and negates the fast itself. "Sheikhs are ready to resist everything by issuing fatwas... and people want to entertain themselves by listening to the fatwa debate and the conflict between jurisprudents."

Other commentators looked into the questions of even more mundane matters. The daily opposition Al-Ahrar ran a feature written by Abdel-Nasser Mohamed about the coming of Ramadan and the new school year. "The new school year eclipsed the joy of Ramadan." The feature said people are suffering and cannot make ends meet and that this year the unfortunate combination, or rather coincidence, of the start of school and the onset of Ramadan spells disaster for the common people of Egypt. "Retailers say that the main reason behind shortages of [Ramadan foodstuffs] is the forthcoming new school year which has taken the lion's share of a family's budget."

In much the same vein wrote Hussein Abdel-Razeq in the daily opposition Al-Wafd about skyrocketing commodity prices. "It's clear that the real reason [behind the rise in commodity prices] is government polices that favour the rich at the expense of the poor. [These policies] have steered the national economy to a chaotic, weak capitalist market," Abdel-Razeq concluded.

Indeed, schooling occupied much space in the papers this week. Many focussed on the trials and tribulations of parents having to pay through their noses at a time when they are supposed to be fasting and feeding their families. Al-Ahram ran a feature about the beginning of the new school year. Mohamed Habib wondered why schools do not take more responsibility for the raising of children. Habib lamented the drop in educational standards. "With the beginning of a new school year, will [the school] teach, train and graduate [the kind of students] the labour market needs?"

Moreover, the paper derided the logic of the educational system. "There are 16 million students in school and 1.5 million attend universities and higher educational institutes, and the competition is focussed only on who gets higher grades!"

Soap operas are another favourite of commentators in Ramadan. Controversies surrounding soaps, a popular staple of Ramadan, hit the headlines. The weekly independent Sawt Al-Umma revealed the wages Egyptian actors collect for their roles in Ramadan soap operas. "The salary list was headed by Omar Sharif who took in LE5 million for his role in Haneen wa Hanan."

The politics of envy was deployed with full force. "[Actor and actress] Yehia El-Fakharani and Youssra took LE4 million each for their roles in soap operas," the paper reported. "The wages Egyptian actors take for their roles in soap operas exceed 40 per cent of the total cost of the production of the show."

On the flip side of the coin, the paltry salaries of journalists came under scrutiny by the press. Actors are making millions and journalists are living on next to nothing. Nahdet Masr ran a feature about the deteriorating conditions of journalists in Egypt. "The official salary of an honest journalist is LE250 [according to the Press Syndicate]." Veteran writer Makram Mohamed Ahmed was quoted as saying: "The conditions of journalists has reached an extent that cannot be ignored."

The ramifications of the rumour about President Hosni Mubarak's health persisted. Wael El-Ibrashi, writing in Sawt Al-Umma about the summoning of opposition Editor-in-Chief of Al-Dostour Ibrahim Issa for allegedly spreading the rumour that the president was not well did not mince his words. "Bring to trial the ministers and officials who failed to deal with the rumours about the president's health instead of holding Ibrahim Issa accountable," El-Ibrashi wrote.

Last but not least, the question of the integrity of the press also featured prominently this week. Maher Hassan said in a feature in the weekly opposition Al-Arabi about the current press scene: "The picture is confusing. Major newspapers are gradually turning into dinosaurs. Their capabilities are being wasted and corruption has gotten the better of their vitality. And a new current of opposition and independent newspapers is occupying larger space in readership, circulation and influence."

Salama Ahmed Salama was quoted in the same paper as saying: "the national newspapers will feel the danger [posed by the independent press] and will be eager to redirect their course so that they become closer to the independent press." He added: "mutual interests are governing the relationship between the state and its affiliated [national] newspapers. It's a relation conditional on financial support from the state in exchange for the national press defending the state."